Superior Gold completes 20 drill holes at Plutonic Gold Mine
Superior Gold has announced additional high-grade drill results from its ongoing underground diamond drill program at its 100%-owned Plutonic Gold mine in Western Australia.
Results are provided for 20 underground exploration drill holes, drilled from August to October, covering 2,939 metres. This drilling was focused on extending and infilling the Western Mining Front, which includes the Baltic West and Baltic West Extension Zones. The Western Mining Front is yet to be fully drill tested and remains open along strike and both up and down dip.
Plutonic Gold Mine Highlights
- Drill hole UDD24581 intersected 53.6 g/t gold over 2.7 metres, including 192.1 g/t over 0.7 metres
- Drill hole UDD24589A intersected 11.9 g/t gold over 7.6 metres, including 108.4 g/t over 0.6 metres
- Drill hole UDD24855 intersected 4.5 g/t gold over 11 metres
- Drill hole UDD24585 intersected 4.1 g/t gold over 6.7 metres
- The results announced today expand the Western Mining Front by a further 60 metres, directly adjacent to existing underground infrastructure, thus requiring minimal capital to develop the area
The Canadian-based gold producer owns 100% of the Plutonic Gold Operations located in Western Australia, which include the Plutonic underground gold mine and central mill, numerous open pit projects including the Plutonic Main Pit push-back project, the Hermes open pit projects and an interest in the Bryah Basin joint venture.
Plutonic is a leading Archean lode-style gold mineralised system that has produced close to six million ounces of gold over 32 years of continuous operation and encompasses a Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 1.89 million ounces together with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 3.07 million ounces. The Company's continuous exploration effort underpins a commitment to resource growth.
Chris Jordaan, president and ceo of Superior Gold, said the drill results continue to support the company's strategy of opening new high-grade mining fronts at Plutonic. The targeted drilling is consistent with the company's stated exploration strategy to accelerate exploration and identify new mining fronts in order to further improve mining grades, increase productivity and reduce remnant mining in 2022 and beyond.
Combined with the latest drilling results released in the third quarter of 2021, today's results show continued extensions of the western edge of the Plutonic deposit a further 60 meters along the entire Western Mining Front.
The latest results give us further confidence that high grade extensions of the Plutonic orebody can be systematically targeted. Results such as hole UDD24581 which intersected 53.6 g/t gold over 2.7 metres, including 192.1 g/t over 0.7 metres and hole UDD24589A which intersected 11.9 g/t gold over 7.6 metres, including 108.4 g/t over 0.6 metres both in the Baltic West Extension Zone build on previous results such as drill hole UDD24141 in the Caspian Zone, which intersected 42.2 g/t gold over 5.6 metres, and drill hole UDD24376 in the Baltic Extension Zone, which intersected 17.7 g/t gold over 6.4 metres1.
The expansion into new mining fronts is a key component of our current strategy to extend Plutonic's mine life and increase production by improving our mining grades and efficiencies. Utilising a dedicated exploration drill rig, our ongoing drill program will continue to infill the Western Mining Front and other proximal targets to focus on reserve and resource expansion.
Extension of Western Mining Front
Superior Gold's mine exploration program is designed to open new mining fronts by targeting extensions of high-grade mineralization that are close to existing infrastructure but outside of the current Mineral Resources. Numerous significant historical high-grade intercepts, both throughout and peripheral to the large mineralised Plutonic system, have yet to be followed up. The immediate focus is on expanding key areas to open new mining fronts in the Western Mining Front (which includes the Caspian, Indian Baltic and Baltic Extension Zones).
The Western Mining Front extends approximately 1.6 kilometres along the western edge of the Caspian, Indian, Baltic and now Baltic Extension Zones of the Plutonic underground mine. It remains open, with several historic high-grade intercepts confirming mineralization continuity outside of Mineral Resources, as shown in Figure 5.
Today's near mine exploration drill results extend from the Caspian Zone and Baltic Zones to the Baltic Extension Zone – covering approximately 300m of the northwest extension of the Western Mining Front.
The Baltic Extension Zone results include 4.1 g/t gold over 6.7 metres intersected in UDD24585, approximately 130 metres from the existing Mineral Resource envelope, and 11.9 g/t gold over 7.6 metres, including 108.4 g/t over 0.6 metres in hole UDD24589A approximately 25m from current infrastructure. The highest intercept is 53.6 g/t gold over 2.7 metres, including 192.1 g/t over 0.7 metres in hole UDD24581 adjacent to existing development.